1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to rolling mills, and is concerned in particular with an improvement in the design of so-called "housingless" roll stands.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the conventional housingless roll stand, the roll necks of the two work rolls are journalled in bearings contained in pairs of clocks located on opposite sides of the mill center line. The chocks of each pair are interconnected by two screw posts. The four screw posts (two on each side of the mill center line) absorb the roll separating forces during rolling.
The screw posts have opposite hand threaded portions engageable with nuts carried by the chocks. Symmetrical roll parting adjustments are effected by simultaneously rotating all four screw posts.
There are several drawbacks associated with this type of arrangement. For example, insertion and removal of the work rolls and their respective chocks entails painstaking and precise alignment of coacting components, requiring the use of expensive specially designed robotic equipment.
Moreover, the multiple pairs of screw posts and the gear drives required to effect their simultaneous rotation adds significantly to the initial price of each roll stand.
Accordingly, a primary objective of the present invention is the provision of a housingless roll stand which has a simplified compact design, in which only two screw posts are required to effect symmetrical roll parting adjustments.
A companion objective of the present invention is to simplify the task of removing and inserting the work rolls, chocks and associated adjustment mechanisms, thus making it unnecessary to resort to the use of specially designed and expensive robotic equipment.